I must not resist the temptation to tell you all about the little Cuban tree frog I met this past weekend. He was a prince! Just cup your hand, look at the little cup, and imagine a frog filling up quite well that cup with his cold green damp skin--and you've got a Cuban tree frog there. He climbed the walls, he leapt off palms, he tilted his head and looked us in the eyes, his own looking like black marbles about the size of holly berries, maybe smaller. What a darling frog he was! I only feared that he would leap and someone, not realizing frog had leapt, would squish him, but froggie had no such fear. He was dauntless and brave and leaping where'er he wished, trusting in fate and leaping where angels feared to tread (thereby squashing the frog).

They cost only $15.00, can live in a little plastic container for quite a long time, and are affectionate in their own way of tilting their little heads and looking you in your eyes with their marble own.

Dear WW: There has long been a disease in frogs that make them scarce now. Even forty years ago, I couldn't find frog eggs to let my kids watch them hatch. But I would not pay even a dollar for a frog.I tried to find some pictures of Cuban Tree Frogs. Best I could do was a jigsaw puzzle, that you can put together if you are interested.http://freejigsawpuzzles.com/puzzles/lg_tree_frog_jigsaw_puzzle.htm

Frogs have been having a tough time over here too, the last few years. We had only two or three in our pond this year; there is at least one small one still hanging about - a worry when you're cutting the grass (given that up until spring). As wwh says, there is a disease or parasite that's hitting them.

They are very susceptible to pollution as well.I found a native tree frog in our back yard as a kid. Smaller than a quarter (or Brit. tuppence) and bright, new-leaf, it-can't-really-be-this-color green with a pale yellow stomach and red eyes. He wasn't afraid at all when I picked him up. He just hopped up my arm t a n angle about 30% off vertical. He, or she of course I didn't ask, looked more like a design for an animated character than a real animal.

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